Scottish fintech firm Orca Money hopes to double its staff to ten over the next year following its second funding round.

The Edinburgh-based company raised £280,000 seed capital last January and is now talking to investors about follow-on funding.

The business helps savers achieve returns of between 5 and 15 per cent by investing in peer-to-peer lending - a type of debt financing where businesses borrow money via an online crowdfunding-style platform and pay it back.

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"The market is exciting because its growth is being propelled by two factors," said Orca chief executive and co-founder Iain Niblock. "Interest rates are really low, so people holding cash in their savings account are losing money due to inflation. Peer-to-peer lending offers the opportunity to get stable, predictable returns that were previously only available to institutions. It's almost democratising lending. People have been investing in loans for hundreds of years, but peer-to-peer lending through technology has offered that to everybody. "

Orca Money acts like a fund of funds, bringing together various peer-to-lenders on one platform.

"For investors, it reduces their risk through diversification and increases their returns slightly," Niblock said. "It also saves them time, because investing through one platform means there's only one point of contact."

Investors can access loans originated by providers such as Edinburgh-based LendingCrowd. It has increased lending over the last three years from £4.5m to £16m, with loans to businesses including Summerhall Distillery, makers of the Pickering’s Gin brand, restaurant chain Tony Macaroni and property lettings agency Umega Lettings.